Herders, farmers and wildlife rangers living in Asia’s mountainous snow leopard habitat are our most important partners in the fight against poaching and killing of these endangered cats.
Category: Community Conservation
We’re Thankful for Snow Leopards
It’s a privilege and an enormous responsibility to work for the conservation of the endangered snow leopard. We’re thankful to share this planet with such an amazing creature – and for your support!
“It’s Time for a Paradigm Shift in Conservation”
The Snow Leopard Trust’s new book, ‘The PARTNERS Principles for Community-Based Conservation’, authored by Charudutt Mishra, is launched by President Atambayev of the Kyrgyz Republic. It’s a handbook for successfully engaging local communities in wildlife conservation.
TRAFFIC Report: Hundreds of Snow Leopards Poached Each Year
A report by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC has found that hundreds of these endangered cats die at the hands of humans each year.
‘Tolerance for wildlife is similar among people of different faiths’
Researcher Saloni Bhatia has examined the role of religion on people’s attitudes toward snow leopards and wolves. She didn’t find significant differences between Muslims’ and Buddhists’ tolerance for these predators. Overall, the conservation impact of religion seems to be limited – but not insignificant.
The Man Who Used To Hate Snow Leopards
Amarsaikhan is a herder in the Tost Mountains of Mongolia. Everyone here calls him Amara. He has spent his entire life living alongside the elusive snow leopard – not seeing the cat very often, but feeling its presence much more frequently than he’d have cared for. Every year, snow leopards killed several of his horses and fawns—an expense he and his community could hardly withstand. Amara not only feared these cats – “to be honest, I think I hated them”, he says. On several occasions, he attempted to kill snow leopards that had come near his camp. Luckily, he never succeeded.
Citizen Scientists Monitor Snow Leopards in China
Snow leopards are notoriously difficult to monitor, in part because they reside in remote areas with unfriendly terrain. But they aren’t the only ones who live there.
Managing Man’s Best Friend
Ajay Bijoor, a project associate in our India team, has written a wonderful article about his experiences with the management of feral dogs in the Transhimalayan landscape of Spiti, India. We’re reposting it here with the kind permission of Ajay and Current Conservation magazine.
Understanding Dogs to Protect Cats
Feral dogs have been seen chasing snow leopards and bears away from their prey. Growing populations of free-ranging dogs are becoming a real threat to wildlife in many parts of the snow leopard’s range. Liu Mingyu, a researcher in China, is tracking dogs with GPS collars to better understand their behavior – and eventually address the threat they pose.
Kyrgyz Team Visits Nature Education Camp in India
In our eco-camps, school kids in snow leopard habitat learn to reconnect to nature. The program has been a success in India and Mongolia for many years. Next year, we’re planning to launch eco-camps in Kyrgyzstan as well – so our Kyrgyz team visited a camp in Spiti, India, to learn from their colleague’s experience.